Summer Pantry Crew (and a can of carrots...)

I am not a numbers person.

I love words.  And I love people.

But I recognize that some people ARE numbers people, so that’s why I led will this piece with figures:

·      Over 150 hours

·      Spanning 56 days

·      7 adults (plus one as needed assistant)

·      5 kids

·      Countless guests

Those numbers represent what it took to run the Little Yellow Free Pantry (LYFP) over the summer so that David and I could get away for a much-needed break.

Because you see, the LYFP is not just a decoration on a street corner.

It’s not an afterthought.

It is a very intentional and important part of our community.

It helps feed people.  It gives them nourishment to have energy to tackle their jobs.  Or to focus in school.  Or to take care of their family.  Or to simply survive.

Yes, at 5 ½ years old, it has become an integral part of the “food chain” in our community. 

Like I said, I am not a numbers person, so I don’t usually share this fact…  But the Little Yellow Free Pantry gives away over $83,000 of food and toiletries annually (I am sure that number is actually much higher than that now with the price of groceries having risen so much). 

Because of the importance of the LYFP in our community, it is sometimes difficult for David and I to get away.  I feel guilty leaving the pantry unattended. 

Now, you might be thinking, “Oh Susan, it will be fine.  Just let it run organically.  People will put things in there.  The guests will be fine.  Don’t worry.”

But I KNOW many of these guests.  I know their needs, their preferences, their dietary restrictions…  They are a part of this community, and I don’t want to let them down.  I don’t want them to repeatedly make the trek to the LYFP (by bus, by foot, by car (using valuable gas), by bike, by skateboard…) and find it empty.

Plus, we take the concept of “Everybody deserves good food” seriously around here.  We believe that if we wouldn’t eat it, we shouldn’t serve it in the pantry either.   That’s why we are careful to sort through donations.  If an item is open or expired, it does not go in the pantry.  We want guests to be treated with the respect all humans deserve, and serving them food out of rusty, expired cans is not the way to do that. 

 

But that sorting takes a lot of effort. 

And opening the boxes of donated food takes a lot of work.

As does hauling that heavy food downstairs.

And noting expiration dates on things.

And shelving it all.

And breaking down boxes for recycling.

And decanting large bottles of oil into smaller jars, and big bags of rice into meal size sealed packets.

And talking with guests when they visit to see if they have a special need that we might be able to meet.

It takes a lot of time, effort, and love to keep the pantry going.

And while we are gone, it also takes a lot of communication and trust.

And that’s when the PANTRY CREW steps in to replace us!

We have a year-round, constant Pantry Crew, neighbors who are both kind and trustworthy.  Because, you see, they actually come into our home when we are not here to work on the pantry.  Never did I ever imagine living in a house that neighbors came in and out of when I was not present, but here we are! 

The constant crew was not quite big enough to pick up the work for the summer, so we added some special summer crew members, too!  The summer crew included:

·      Teresa (and occasionally her husband Dan when donations were too heavy to carry down to the shelves)

·      Kasey and her kids Mackenzie and Ryder

·      Christy

·      Jacquie

·      Ixi, Mac, and their kids Ixel and John

·      Cindy and her granddaughter Daisy

This amazing group of humans kept the pantry alive while we escaped to Florida.  While we were swimming in the ocean, they were sweating carrying down heavy boxes of veggies.  While we were relaxing on the beach, they were talking with guests and getting them what they needed.  And while we were playing board games, they were cutting up boxes and hauling them to the curb.

The pantry simply could NOT exist without volunteers, and we are super grateful for these people!!

Joining the crew showed summer members firsthand how hard it is to manage a project of this scale.  It also allowed them to meet some guests and see firsthand who the food supports.  It taught the new child member responsibility (and she even brought her dad over one afternoon so she could teach HIM how it all works).  And it reinforced community, compassion, and empathy for all.

We hosted a Thank You Party for the Summer Crew and had a great time eating, laughing, and chatting.  We talked about our favorite things to put in the pantry: Ixel – pads and tampons, Kasey – whole meals like pasta, spaghetti, and parmesan cheese, Daisy – honey, Susan – summer sausage, Ixi – Hormel Compleats meals…

We talked about how fun it is to meet guests, and how it is much more WORK than it appears from the outside.

And we laughed about our ongoing joke – A CAN OF CARROTS.

Usually when I talk with people about the pantry, they ask what things are popular with guests.  But it is rare for someone to ask, “What doesn’t get taken??”.  But when you work on the crew, you learn pretty quickly what the least favorite items are, and one of those is for sure cans of carrots.

We joke that we can put a can of carrots in and it will still be there 3 days later.  The shelves may have emptied and been refilled time and time again, but the CAN OF CARROTS remains!!  Canned carrots just don’t go over that well.  To celebrate this fun fact, each Summer Pantry Crew member received a colorful shirt with the Kindness Activist logo on the front, and the phrase, “I survived the Summer Pantry Crew…  And so did a can of carrots.”  The shirts were a big hit!  (And I later learned that a young Summer Pantry Crew member even experimented with the positioning of the canned carrots on the shelves to see if that made a difference!  Apparently, it did not…)

Ixi and Kasey modeling their new shirts

The other item that sometimes stays in the pantry for a long time is boxed stuffing/dressing.  To make stuffing, you need to have an oven (and to make it tasty, you need other ingredients).  Also, I think not all cultures have stuffing as a “thing”, so it is just not a big hit in the pantry. 

Of course, being on pantry duty also shows you what the most popular items are!  Some of those are:  drinks of any kind, fruit cups, cans of fruit, cans of hearty soup, Compleats meals, microwave popcorn, ramen, Maseca, pasta, and pasta sauce.  Oh, and toiletries of any kind!!  Pantry guests cannot use SNAP benefits to buy toiletries, so shampoo, deodorant, feminine hygiene products, toothpaste, lotion, shaving cream…  We hand out a lot of toiletries.

What's YOUR favorite thing to put in the pantry?  Some of the Summer Crew!

The Summer Pantry crew was a great reminder for me of how it really does take a village.  Without their support, we would not be able to get away to recharge.  I am so grateful for their hard work and commitment.

Summer Pantry Crew (missing Christy, plus Susan and David)

The Pantry Crew is full at the moment, but we do often need volunteers for other things.  If you would like to add your name to our volunteer list, please send you name, email address, and cell phone number to:  kindnessactivist@gmail.com .  We will add you to our database.  Also, we often ask for volunteers on our Facebook page (Kindness Activist), so give us a follow there.

If you would like to donate to the Little Yellow Free Pantry, the most needed items as of September 22, 2026 are:

·      Bars of soap (we are out)

·      Single serving cups of instant mashed potatoes

·      Bags/boxes of instant mashed potatoes

·      Heat and eat Indian meals (we are out)

·      Microwave popcorn (we are low)

·      Canned fruit of any kind (always needed, hard to keep in stock)

·      Ketchup and/or mustard

·      Cans of corn

·      Evaporated milk

You can see our Amazon wishlist here (please focus on items marked “most needed” – we try to keep that up to date): 

Little Yellow Free Pantry Wish List 

And, as always, if you would like to donate to Kindness Activist to help keep our mission of spreading kindness going, we would appreciate it.  Donations are tax deductible.  Donations accepted via:

 

Venmo (KindnessActivist)

 

PayPal (KindnessActivist)

 

Credit Card:

 Donate via credit card

Kind Kids Market - May I Interest You in a Bracelet?

Whew – the first Kind Kids Market is done!  It was a scorcher of a day, and we had 2 small rain storms to deal with, but we not only survived, we THRIVED!

I know, I know, you are all curious how much money the kind kids raised.  But honestly, that is the least important part of the day, so we will get to that reveal in a bit 😊 .

Most of (but not all) of the Kind Kids who worked at the market

First – the kids.  Oh my goodness, they were fabulous!!  We had 13 participants who displayed a wide variety of products.  We had: handmade beaded bracelets with tiny beads, handmade beaded bracelets with pony beads, handmade bracelets made with rubberbands, handmade rings made with rubberbands, painted art, stamped art, fancy pretzels, cookies, muffins, banana bread, mango lassi, 2 flavors of Kool-Aid, painted rocks, lemonade, handmade crocheted hearts that could be keychains or pins depending on the buyer’s preference, handmade fidgets, and temporary tattoos – all served up with big smiles and lots of enthusiasm!!  (I hope I captured all of the booths here, if I missed one I apologize.)

Of course, I purchased quite a few items.  I mean, how could I not??  I bought a painted rock, some Kool Aid, a glass of lemonade, 2 bracelets, a ring, a fidget, a heart, and some painted/stamped artwork!  Oh, and a mango lassi!  I was a shopping fool I tell you! 

Some moments definitely stood out for me.  One was when a remarkable stranger walked past.  He had no idea this delightful market was happening, but he walked right in and approached a kind kid.  He asked lots of genuine questions and was so supportive of the artists and they were proud to tell him about their work.  Another favorite moment for me was when the oldest kid involved, a teen, ended up being the center of attention.  I don’t know that person very well, but from what I gather, they are a bit shy and reserved.  I wasn’t sure they would want to participate in the event but they DID, and I am so happy about that!  Because during a slow time of the market, this teen had several little artists crunched up around them.  The teen had pulled out their extra stash of beads and elastic and was teaching the little kids how to make things!!  And they all were loving it.  In fact, David overheard one little boy tell the teen, “You are a really good teacher”.  Heart.  Melt.  A child came up to me at one point and said, “You are doing a good job!”.  I suspect it was the same boy 😊.  I also was so delighted that a child from a family that Kindness Activist has helped in the past participated.  They were so excited to get involved, and the parent’s pride in being able to help and really give back was palpable.  I loved that many of the booths allowed customers to place custom orders and they made the items on the spot!  That is something that doesn’t happen at many markets!  I got a few custom pieces, of course.  And the other thing that really stood out to me was the parents being so very supportive of their kind kids.  It was lovely.

Events like this may appear simple.  I mean, it is just setting up a few tables, inviting some kids, and taking a few hours out of your Sunday, right?  But to make them come off well, to make it all look easy, a lot of pre-work is involved.  And a lot of day of work, too!  For this ONE EVENT to happen, this tiny 3-hour market, a total of over 86 volunteer hours were put in by 26 people.  Isn’t it remarkable to me to see it broken down like that?  Over 86 hours!  And that does not even count the hours that the kind kids spent making their things to sell!!  I do not take for granted the wonderful people willing to volunteer their time to support Kindness Activist.  Without the community, events like this could not be a success.

Ok, it is time to get to the big reveal of how much money was raised and how it will be split.  The agreement with the kind kids is that we would total all money raised and divide that in 2.  Half of the funds would go to Kindness Activist to support our mission of spreading kindness, and the other half would be split evenly among the kids who participated. 

I am proud to announce…

That the Kind Kid Market raised $573!!!

Kindness Activist will receive half, and the kind kids who worked at the event (13 kids) will split the other half.  That means that each kind kid will get $22!! 

The first participant rang the doorbell this evening to deliver the bracelet she made for me after the event (custom, of course!) and I had the honor of presenting her an envelope with her $22.  Her eyes lit up.  “That’s a LOT!” she said.  “That’s more than a whole MONTH of allowance!!”.  So sweet.

I am not sure what most of the kids will do with the money they earned, but I DO know what one sweet little girl has planned.  Daisy is going to use the money she earned to buy food for the Little Free Pantry at her school. 

Kids get it. 

Kids are kind.

They give me hope for the future.

Thanks to everyone who supported the event by volunteering, being a vendor, and shopping.  And thanks to David who was, as he always is, a great sport and hard worker.  He even agreed to wear his romper for the day. 

Happy Kind Kids Market everyone!  May your bracelets be stretchy and your cookies taste yummy.

Proud Kind Kids, Happy Mammas

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mammas out there!

Kindness Activist held a Mother’s Day gift making event and boy howdy, did we MAKE THE GIFTS!

Each child drew a self-portrait and had a photograph taken.  Then they decorated a frame that had two 5 x 7 openings.  We printed the photos and shrunk the drawings to size and voila – fancy Mother’s Day gifts!

Of course, it was not quite that simple…  There were glitter “incidents”.  There was quite a lot of PAINT glopped about (including the purple that must’ve been on the bottom of my shoe before I walked into and through the house…).  There were “gem emergencies” when shiny rhinestones fell off and had to be reglued.

But there was joy.  Oh, was there joy!  Those kids were so PROUD of their work.  Most were very detailed and thorough and did not rush one bit.  In fact, the hour-long slots we allotted were not long enough, so the craft assistants never got any breaks between sessions, because as soon as one group finished the next group appeared.

One sweet girl showed up today.  Her mamma has been overwhelmed with work (and life), and thought today was the crafting day.  NOT TO WORRY!  We busted out the materials and supplies again and let the artist (and another child who was over) create! 

Apparently, the magic worked, because mom’s have been sending sweet messages of gratitude. 

·       My heart is full today. Thank you so much for organizing the super thoughtful Mother’s Day crafting project. I’ve in love with my updated pics and pictures. Thanks to the fairy godmother of Penrose!

 

·       I love the frames and photos so much! Thank you again so much for making this amazing Mother’s Day gift possible. And thank you for being a mother to the whole Arlington community  

 

·       Thank you soooo much for this beautiful Mother’s Day gift! I think this is the best gift I have ever received!

 

·       Thank you so much for the sweet and lovely gifts you prepared with the kids!!! I love them!!

 

·       My child gave me her present and it is absolutely adorable. I LOVE it!!! And the wrapping paper was so pretty. You are so kind to offer these special crafts that mean so much to us moms.

Thanks for trusting your kids to us.  We had fun creating with them and seeing their confidence grow, one brush stroke and glitter blob at a time.

 

Volunteer hours put in for this project:  38.75

Number of kids who made gifts:  21 (plus one child who made 2, so a total of 22 gifts)

Kindness Activist funds spent:  $279.89 (most of the paint, glitter, brushes, etc. were in our craft supply already, KA funds were spent on frames, printing photos and self-portraits, and wrapping paper)

Cost per child: $13.99

 

P.S. – sorry about the glitter that will get on whatever table you place your frame on, moms.

P.P.S. – if you can post a photo of your child’s finished gift in the comments that would be great!

Here are some of the amazing self-portraits.

Camping Kindness

I got to sit down and chat today with a new little friend, Owen.  He is only 3, but he is FULL of energy, ideas, imagination, and KINDNESS.

He is a funny one, my new friend!  Made me laugh

Owen’s birthday party this year was CAMPING themed – complete with a bonfire, smores, a tent, and even a campfire pinata that his dad made!  But even though the official theme was camping, a “sub-theme” of kindness was woven in, too.

Cool campfire pinata

Because you see, instead of asking for GIFTS, Owen asked his guests to bring food donations for the Little Yellow Free Pantry!  Isn’t that amazing???  His mom and dad brought him by today so that we could talk a bit and learn about the sweet little boy and his birthday donations.

Owen’s mom, Janelle, works with United Way so knows alllll about non-profits and volunteerism.  A friend of the family had a birthday party and asked for food donations, so Owen’s parents were inspired to do the same for his event.  “At first we were going to collect for AFAC, but then I remembered your posts about the pantry and thought that would be even more local to help out,” she said. 

The birthday boy and his kind parents

And help out they did!  Owen’s guests brought bags of shelf-stable food, which they then donated to the LYFP.  And today when the family came over to talk about it, they got to meet a pantry guest who stopped by.  I love it when that happens – connecting donors to receivers – it really brings the system “full circle” and makes it real. 

Owen is a sweetheart.  He loves reading books, his favorite color (today) is blue (his dad says that changes quite often…).  He likes hopscotch (though he says he is not that good at it, and walks on the hopscotch board instead of hopping) and has a great imagination.  And this little dynamo is really kind.

Owen tried out our newest project, the "stress relief" station :) 

Happy belated birthday, Owen!  I am glad you got to go to Great Wolf Lodge and celebrate after your party.  And I am very, very thankful that you collected food for the Little Yellow Free Pantry.  Because of YOUR KINDNESS, other neighbors have fuller bellies.

Kind kids rock.

P.S. – items currently most needed for the Little Yellow Free Pantry are dried beans of any kind (we are out of lentils and almost out of other kinds as well), single serving heat and eat soups in cups, single serving drinks of any kind except milk which we have enough of (water, iced tea, juices, etc.), cans of fruit of any kind, deodorant, and sun screen.  Our Amazon wish list can be found at the link below (Costco wish list coming this month).  THANK YOU!

Little Yellow Free Pantry Wish List

A Little Sunshine, A Pop of Color, And a LOT of Pride

What happens when you invite a 6 year old, 12 year old, 9 year old, 7 year old, a couple of 10 year olds, and a 5 ½ year old to come together and paint a bunch of people’s fingernails??

I will tell you what happens.  POLISH-A-PALOOZA!

See how HAPPY the customers were??  

Today our yard was full of color.  And love.  And pride – so.  Much.  Pride.

I was so happy to see these young kids being so very PROUD of the work they were doing! 

So proud of his work - he just finished placing a beautiful shiny gem 

At least one participant was very nervous before today.  “But Miss Susan, what if I get polish on someone’s FINGER??” one potential painter asked when I invited her to help at the event.  She was worried she would mess up.  Worried she would not be “good enough”.  “Hey, that’s fine!” I told her.  “And do you know what?  Some of the nail techs are going to be 6 years old!!  Even younger than you!” I explained.  Her eyes got wide as she contemplated joining in…  Then she said YES.

And she was so glad that she did!  As was I.  I specifically asked her to do my nails, and they turned out terrific – looked just the way I wanted them to.

 

I got a great manicure from this nail tech

This nail polishing event was really meant to be more of a “fun raiser” than “fund raiser”.  I mean, asking people to pay for nails done by a kid could be a bit of a stretch…

 

The first customers of the day!

Beautiful manicure!

Pink nails with strawberry stickers - so cute!

But people came!!  Sure, lots of them were related to the nail techs 😊.  But hey, those relatives were so excited to have their child paint their nails!!  I think the MOST PROUD was this grandma.  Her grandson did her nails in his favorite color – orange.  She was beaming at the sight of them.

 

This was probably my favorite manicure of the day.  This grandma was soooo proud of
her grandson and his work.  It was beautiful to witness.

Another thing I loved about the event is that everyone participated.  Maybe it is a generational thing, but there didn’t seem to be any hesitation from kids to get their nails painted, regardless of their gender.  It was so great to witness that.  Made my heart happy.

 

Don't these nails look terrific?

And dads – oh dads got their nails done…  This dad got his pedicure from his 3 year old (who was not an “official nail tech” but nevertheless was proud of her work!).

 

Very young nail tech gently drying her dad's pedicure with a fan. 
Wouldn't want any of that polish to get messed up!

We also had hair gems – little shiny jewels that lightly stick in your hair.  The best was seeing a bald dad rocking a jewel right on the top of his hairless head.  Priceless.

 

We even had a DOG come get her nails done!  And the 2 kids who worked on that one did terrific.  The dog (and owner) were very happy with the result. 

Manicure in progress...  Or was it a pedicure...

 

Finished nails!  A thing of beauty.

One terrific young volunteer took over the task of snack duty and was great at it.  After a while he branched out to sign holding duty and managed to bring some new customers in.  (Full disclosure - at first that made me nervous…  You pulled over because you saw a sign about getting your nails painted, but did you understand it was an elementary school aged kid who was going to be wielding the brush???  Oh, they understood.  They understood alright, and jumped right in!)

Concentrating hard to get the nails juuuuust right

 One candidate for school board stopped by to get her nails done.  She was out doing meet and greets today, and was heading straight to an event with the Commonwealth Attorney for Arlington.  “You are going straight to the event with those nails?” I asked quietly.  She beamed.  “Of course!!  And if Parissa (the attorney) was not so busy today, I am sure she would be here getting her nails painted, too!” she replied.  Again – PRIDE.  She was going to rock those sunny yellow nails!

 

Those are some shiny, happy nails!!!  And that is BEFORE the stickers were added!

A bit of polish was spilled.

 

The new bubble machine didn’t work.

 

I forgot to take a photo of all of the nail techs together.

 

But do you know what? 

 

It was perfect.

 

It was exactly how it should be.

 

Just like David’s nails.  PERFECT.

 

 

Perfect manicure.

 

Kindness Activist funds raised:  $468

Afternoon spent in the sun watching young people be happy and proud of their work:  immeasurable

 

P.S. – There were lots of cries of, “Miss Susan, can we do this again???” as we were finishing up today.  So be ready – you may need to come get a very colorful manicure someday…

 

P.P.S. - $10 of the total above was given as a tip to Jay, a young boy who had proudly finished another set of nails.  The tipper explained that she would pay separately for her nails, but this $10 was a TIP just for him because he did such a good job.  Well, that little boy came right up to me and showed me the money.  “I just got this tip!” he said.  “I want to give it to kindness!”.  I tried to talk him out of it…  $10 is a LOT of money for a 7 year old, and it was given to him specifically.  “She said I could do whatever I wanted with it,” he told me.  “And I want to give it to KINDNESS.”

 

With kids like that in the lead, our future has to be bright.  It just has to be.

This nail tech's favorite color to paint nails is GOLD. 
Here he is carefully drying the gold nails he just finished.

Aren't our nails lovely??

Such concentration.

Team work - one paints while one dries.

That is one COLORFUL manicure

 

Hug from a nail tech

David picked out great colors